Each training in presentation skills teaches about the importance of eye contact between a speaker and his audience because of its power to attract the audience's attention and persuade. However, new research published in the Psychological Science journal, a magazine of the American Association for Psychological Science, showed that eye contact can be a bad thing too. Listeners looking at a speaker’s eyes are in fact more difficult to persuade, especially if they already disagreed with something in advance.
The study entitled In the Eye of the Beholder tested the impact of eye contact on the persuasion of listeners in several experiments. It turned out that the longer the listeners looked at a speaker’s eyes at projected videos, the less they were convinced of his arguments. This was not true only in case of listeners who have already agreed with the speakers' arguments in advance.
According to the study authors, this means only one thing – eye contact may have different impacts on the thinking of listeners in different situations. While it is desirable in an atmosphere of trust and friendship, in conflict situations it is more closely associated with dominance and intimidation. Looking at a speaker’s mouth rather than the eyes proved to be more effective in such cases.
"Whether you’re a politician or a parent, it might be helpful to keep in mind that trying to maintain eye contact may backfire if you’re trying to convince someone who has a different set of beliefs than you," said one of the authors, Julia Minson from the Harvard University.
-kk-